Emmylou Harris, in “Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska: A Celebration in Words and Music.”
On Sept. 19, 2023, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovett, Eric Church, The Lumineers and Noah Kahan performed Bruce Springsteen songs at The Analog at Hutton Hotel in Nashville, with Warren Zanes — the author of the 2023 book “Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska” — reading passages about the album and its creation, between numbers. An hour-long film of the event, titled “Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska: A Celebration in Words and Music,” can now be watched by subscribers to PBS’s Passport streaming service (with PBS airings starting Aug. 31), and a trailer has been released that can be seen below.
Since Zanes’ book puts Nebraska (1982) into context with discussion of Springsteen’s other albums of that era, the show begins with “The Price You Pay,” from The River, and ends with the Born in the USA title track and that album’s “Dancing in the Dark.” Six of the 10 songs from Nebraska are featured in the special; “Highway Patrolman,” “Johnny 99,” “Open All Night” and “Reason to Believe” are not included.
These songs that are performed in the special are, in this order:
“The Price You Pay,” Emmylou Harris
“Mansion on the Hill,” The Lumineers
“Nebraska,” Emmylou Harris
“Used Cars,” Lyle Lovett
“State Trooper,” The Lumineers
“Atlantic City,” Noah Kahan
“My Father’s House,” Lyle Lovett
“Born in the USA,” Lucinda Williams
“Dancing in the Dark,” Eric Church
The artists are also shown, briefly, sharing some thoughts on Nebraska at the start of the special.
The show was similar, in format, to the one that Zanes, a Montclair resident, presented at The Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair in May 2023.
Zanes’ book is also being made into a feature film, with Jeremy Allen White starring as Springsteen.
For more on PBS Passport, visit pbs.org/explore/passport.
Here is the trailer.
Trailer for Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska_ A Celebration of Words and Music (PBS) from Don Maggi on Vimeo.
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